


Major Decisions

by MariaClaire



Series: College Stories [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon Compliant, College, F/M, Fluff, Supportive Annabeth, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23989093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariaClaire/pseuds/MariaClaire
Summary: When Percy struggles with his choice of major, Annabeth tries to help him figure out what to do.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: College Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746067
Comments: 11
Kudos: 164





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, it turns out that quarantine is a good time for writing (I'm not sick, fortunately, just stuck under a stay-at-home order). This story takes place during the spring of Percy and Annabeth's sophomore year of college. Like I said with my story "College Studying," this one is occasionally a little more suggestive than some of my other stories—because they're in college—but there's nothing explicit; just the usual kissing. I've tried to be as canon-compliant as possible (as of Tyrant's Tomb). This is the first chapter. A second chapter will be up later this week.

They were hanging out in Annabeth's dorm room in early March of their sophomore year of college when Percy said he had some exciting news.

"Oh yeah?" Annabeth was leaning back against the arm of the battered old sofa (which technically belonged to her roommate), her legs across Percy's lap while she tried to finish reading a novel for her required ancient literature class. Most of the time they hung out in Percy's dorm because one of his former-praetor perks was a private room, but Annabeth's room actually had the better TV (again, courtesy of this year's roommate, Christine). So, tonight, since Christine was out somewhere anyway, they were chilling here. Annabeth had looked up from her book when Percy said he had news, but he seemed to be distracted by whatever was on TV. She nudged him and asked, "What's the news?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. You know my professor for my marine ecology class got that grant for some major research project?" When she nodded, he said, "Well, he was looking for students to help out with the first phase, which is three weeks of night dives off the coast, studying populations in their environments and tracking some trends. And I was one of the students he asked to participate."

"Seriously?" Annabeth sat up straighter. "Percy, that's awesome!"

"Yeah." He smiled, but it looked a little forced. "It starts next week."

"You're excited, right?"

"Definitely. It's a great opportunity." His voice was strangely flat, though, and he looked down at a stray thread in the sofa he was toying with.

Annabeth frowned slightly, then reached over to brush his hair back. He probably needed to get it cut soon. As gently as she could, she said, "You don't have to take it."

Percy looked up with a small smile. "Sure I do. It's a great opportunity."

"That's the second time you've said that and I didn't believe it either time."

Percy exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. "But it is. I should be excited. Everyone else who was picked is thrilled. Bouncing around like you when your professors compliment your designs," he added, squeezing her foot.

Annabeth made a face at him, then poked him in the arm. "So why aren't you?"

Percy shrugged. "I mean, I kind of am. We're actually going out on the boat, I'll get to do some diving, and we should be doing some real conservation work, tracking populations and looking for patterns we can use. Plus, I'll get to spend time gossiping with fish." He grinned when Annabeth laughed. "So all that's good. I'm probably just not looking forward to being up all night to do it."

"That part is rough," Annabeth agreed. "But it's only for a few weeks, right?"

"Yeah." Percy sighed. "I'll survive."

"Probably." Annabeth smoothed out a wrinkle in his t-shirt. "Considering you've survived…well, everything else," Percy actually snorted at that, "I think you can survive working nights for a few weeks."

"When you put it like that," Percy grumbled, but he smiled when she kissed his cheek.

"It'll be fine."

"Yeah, it will." He rolled his neck to look at her. "No free nights for three weeks, though."

Annabeth ducked her head to hide her smile. "Mmhm. That does sound like a problem."

"It is." Percy scooted closer. "Working nights, trying to sleep during the day and keep up with my other classes. It'll be pretty busy."

"Sounds like it." Annabeth trailed her fingers along his arm, enjoying what it did to his breathing. "Not sure you'll even have time for your girlfriend."

"We'll figure it out. We're good at that." His arm settled around her shoulders and he pulled her close. "Good at other stuff, too."

She rolled her eyes at that, but kissed him anyway. And that was the end of the conversation for the evening.

* * *

A few days later, Annabeth was in the UC Berkeley computer lab, finishing up a design for one of her classes. She was so focused on her project, she didn't hear her phone until the second time it rang. And even then, she only realized it because the guy at the next computer gave her a very dirty look and loudly cleared his throat when her phone buzzed on the desk again.

"Sorry," she muttered, grabbing her phone and quickly hitting save on the computer before answering. "Hello?"

"Hey, you busy?" Percy asked.

"Working on my design project for next week." Guy-at-the-next-computer cleared his throat again. Annabeth resisted the urge to give him the finger. Instead, she began closing out of the programs she was in. "But I'm about done for the day. What are you doing?"

"I was going to see if you wanted to get dinner. Before, you know, I have to go in to work tonight."

"Oh yeah." Annabeth logged off the computer, gathered up her stuff, and threw her own nasty look at irritated guy before heading out of the lab. "Sure, I can do dinner. Where do you want to meet?"

They agreed on a restaurant near the marina where Percy would be leaving from that night, then hung up. Annabeth paused by a bench to reorganize her bag, since she'd just grabbed her stuff and jammed everything in while rushing to leave. As a sophomore architecture student, she was spending a lot of time drafting designs in the UC Berkeley computer lab—they had better software programs than her own laptop. Now, if she'd still had Daedalus's laptop…Annabeth sighed. Then she hoisted her bag back onto her shoulder and set off to meet Percy.

It was early spring, so the air was a little nippy, and Annabeth zipped her jacket all the way up to protect herself from the wind. She'd forgotten that Percy's research project with his professor started today, which made her feel a bit like a terrible girlfriend. It had just been a hectic week. She'd had a major group project due in one class, which was always complicated, and now she was working on this design for another class, which was due next week and worth 25% of her grade. Plus, balancing architecture classes at UC Berkeley with her general education classes at the University of New Rome was sometimes tricky. Still, she needed to make sure her boyfriend made it on her priority list as well.

Especially since, as usual, her heart picked up its pace when she saw him standing outside the restaurant waiting for her. In his faded blue sweatshirt and battered jeans, he wasn't even trying to look good, he just did. She couldn't help the wide smile on her face as she walked up and said, "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"Hey yourself, Wise Girl." Percy was smiling too as he kissed her cheek. "How's the project coming along?"

"Ugh, it's a colossal pain in the ass," Annabeth said as they walked into the restaurant. Her heart fluttered again when Percy held the door open for her. "But I'll get it done."

The hostess led them right to a table which looked out over San Francisco Bay. The day was cloudy, so there wasn't much sunset to speak of, but it was still a pretty great view. After they ordered, Annabeth asked, "So are you ready for your first night of research?"

"I think so." Percy fiddled with his utensils. "Should be better than being in the lab, anyway. I think I like it more when I'm out actually doing stuff."

"Makes sense." Annabeth studied him. Percy was doing pretty well as a marine biology major, not only because a lot of it came naturally to him, but also because he was working hard at his classes, determined to pass. But from little things he'd said and his attitude about it sometimes, Annabeth wondered if he was really enjoying his major. However, the few times she'd tried to bring it up, he'd waved her off, saying it was fine, he was good. So she'd let it drop. Now, she just said, "You'll be able to do some actual hands-on work tonight, right? That will definitely be better than being in the lab."

"For sure." Percy looked up and smiled. "Might even be able to save a few dolphins or lobsters or something."

"Does that mean I get to call you Aquaman?" Annabeth asked sweetly.

"Not if you love me."

"Fine. I guess." She heaved a put-out sigh, but then caught his eye and they both laughed.

* * *

Annabeth called Percy the next morning when she woke up. He'd worked from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., so she figured he should just be getting back to his dorm. When he answered and said, "Hey, babe," his voice sounded wrung out.

"Hey." Annabeth balanced the phone on her shoulder as she pulled her hair up. "How'd it go?"

"It was fine. Kind of boring for a few hours while we were waiting for stuff to happen, but we got some good results in the end. And helped out a few sea creatures so, you know, yay." He seriously sounded drained. "Hey, I think I might get breakfast before I pass out. Want to meet me?"

"Sure."

They met at a pancake place they frequented. Percy was leaning against the side of the building, head hanging. For a moment, Annabeth thought he was actually asleep on his feet, but when she reached him he looked up and managed a small smile. "Hey."

"Hi, baby." She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "You ready for pancakes?"

"Gods, yes."

While they ate, Percy filled Annabeth in more on his night. "It was different than I expected, though. I mean, I know we're doing the night dives because that's when more of the animals we're studying are out, like a lot of them are nocturnal, so I figured we'd be busy. Instead, it was about four hours of waiting around and setting up equipment, then another hour of waiting for anything to show up, then like two hours of diving, which was cool, but it was just, I don't know, most of it was kind of boring."

Annabeth twirled her fork, making patterns in her syrup. "It was just the first night though. I mean, anytime you're doing research or experiments, it takes a bit to get everything set up. Tonight should be better."

"Yeah, hopefully." Percy sighed, then took a big bite of pancakes, followed by a gulp of orange juice. "I just…never mind."

"What?"

"Nah, nothing." He took another swig of orange juice. "It was just a long night. I'm tired. And I still have to go to my noon class today."

"I thought they were letting you out of your class while you did this project with the professor?"

"Just out of my one ecology class for now. I still have to go to my other three."

"Oh. Well, it's only for a few weeks. You're going to do fine."

"Hope so." Percy's smile was tired. "I mean, I've made it through much tougher stuff than this."

"Exactly." Annabeth reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "You've got this, Percy."

She believed that completely. Hopefully, he did, too, but she wasn't sure.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Annabeth woke up, startled and disoriented, when Percy walked in. She'd stayed in his dorm room the night before because she had a huge test to study for and he had no roommate. So with Percy gone for the night, Annabeth had the room to herself to work in quiet. Her own roommate was much calmer than the one last year, but she'd had several friends over last night, and Annabeth just found it easier to study without distractions. But still, she woke up confused and instantly on alert before her brain caught up with her surroundings.

"Sorry," Percy murmured, kicking off his shoes. "Didn't mean to wake you up."

"S'okay." Annabeth blinked in the darkness. "What time is it?"

"A little after four."

"A.m.?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So you're back early?" She dragged herself into a sitting position, pushing her hair back from her face. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine. There's just a storm rolling in, so the waves were getting too big for safety. I mean, obviously that's not a problem for me, but apparently the professor's insurance doesn't take 'son of Poseidon onboard' into account."

Annabeth laughed, then snuggled back under the covers as Percy disappeared into his en suite bathroom. Since it was his second year in this same dorm room, the place felt pretty cozy, with pictures up on the walls, stuff on the shelves, and also occasional random piles of stuff on the floor. Because Percy.

She scooted over to give him room when he came back out and crawled under the covers, but he immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close again, burying his face in her neck.

"Percy!"

"You smell good." His voice was muffled against her skin. His warm breath sent goosebumps dancing down her arms.

"New shampoo. But it's four in the morning. And you have your noon class tomorrow. Today, whatever. And I know you're exhausted."

"Am not."

"Are too. Trust me."

"Fine," he relented after a moment, though he let his lips linger briefly just below her ear and Annabeth had to remind herself that she had class tomorrow morning too and they really needed to sleep.

But she did twist around to kiss his cheek, then cuddled closer. "How'd it go before the storm hit?"

She felt his shoulders shift in a shrug. "Same as usual. Several boring hours of set up, then an hour of diving, then the storm rolled in."

"Are you making any progress on the research?"

"I guess. My professor seems happy about the data we're gathering, and so do the other students in the group."

"But you're not?"

He shrugged again. "It's cool, I guess. Just nothing groundbreaking. And, you know, I want to focus more on the conservation side of things, like actually helping sea animals. Right now, all we're doing is informational. Like just studying them and what they do."

"Well, yeah," Annabeth said. "I mean, that's part of the process, especially if this is work they want to make available in the mortal world too. There's steps that have to be followed."

"I know that." An edge of frustration crept into Percy's voice. "I just…I don't know."

"What?" Annabeth prompted, resting her palm on his chest.

"I guess I thought it would be different. More hands on. I don't know how much I love the lab work and all the…what's that 't' word that means boring?"

"Tedious?"

"Yeah, that. There's a lot of tedious stuff that goes with research. And I don't know if that's my thing. Like, you can sketch and draw and get totally absorbed in your designs for hours. And I've seen Valdez literally spend an entire day making these tiny modifications to stuff he's working on. But I'm not like that. I like to be moving around, doing stuff, feeling like I'm actually helping people. Or animals. Whatever." Percy exhaled heavily, then said, "Sorry. I know it's ridiculously late."

"It's okay," Annabeth said. Then, hesitantly, she added, "You know, people change majors all the time. That's pretty normal."

"I'm almost halfway done already, though. And it's what I know. I mean, I don't even have to try to be good at sailing and fish. Studying fish. Okay, maybe I am exhausted."

"Told you." Annabeth reached over to take his hand, lacing their fingers together. "You know, babe, you don't have to do marine biology just because your dad is Poseidon. That would be like me studying military history just because my mom is the goddess of battle strategy."

"I figured you wouldn't do something like that because you already know it all." She could hear his smile as he pressed a kiss into her hair.

She snorted. "I wish. But that's not the point. What I'm saying is, you don't have to do something just because you happen to be good at it. You can choose something you want to do just because you enjoy doing it."

"I guess." Percy yawned, then kissed the top of her head again. "I don't know, babe. It's really frickin' late and people probably don't make good life choices at four in the morning."

"That," she poked his chest lightly, "was my point before."

"No, that's always a good choice."

"You're ridiculous," she muttered, but she snuggled against him anyway.

"What time's your class?" Percy asked.

"Ten-thirty."

"Cool. So can you make sure I'm conscious before you leave so I don't sleep through mine?"

"Of course, Seaweed Brain. I've always got your back."

* * *

They didn't talk much more about the research project over the next couple weeks, but that was partly due to the fact that they barely had any time to hang out. The few times Annabeth saw Percy, he was a little more moody than normal, but she knew part of that was because of the lack of sleep. Then, the afternoon after his last night working on the boat, Percy showed up at Annabeth's dorm room. He actually caught her by surprise while she was sitting on the couch, laptop on her lap, typing furiously as she tried to finish an essay she'd forgotten to do for her ancient lit class. She jumped when Percy walked through the open door. "How'd you get in?"

"Your roommate was walking out of the building when I walked up, so she let me in." He dropped onto the other end of the couch. "What are you working on?"

"Essay. Due tomorrow. I forgot about it. Hold on." Annabeth had been right in the middle of a thought when her boyfriend walked in and she didn't want to lose it and have to start back over. Not when she was so close to being done. Percy didn't seem to mind. When her eyes flicked up to him, he was leaning back, eyes closed, arms stretched along the back of the sofa. Cute, she thought absently, then went back to wrestling with her current paragraph. After a few minutes, though, she managed to get through the point, made a note of the quote she wanted to include, then hit save, shut her laptop, and rested a hand on Percy's forearm. "You awake?"

"Maybe." He slowly opened his eyes, then turned his head to smile at her. "Finish the essay?"

"Close enough. What's up? How was the last night on the job?"

"It was fine." When she raised her eyebrows at his tone, he sighed and sat up a little straighter. "Okay, it was as lame and boring as every other night for the past three weeks, except that we got to do about four hours of diving, which is pretty much the only part I like. Which made me think…" His voice trailed off as he took her hand. "You might be right."

"About what?" Annabeth prompted, though she suspected she knew where he was going with this. She just really wanted him to say it.

"About changing my major." Percy's eyes were fixed on his thumb, tracing circles on the back of Annabeth's hand. "I think…I think that's probably what I need to do."

"Need to do or want to do?"

"Both." He looked up. "I thought a lot about what you said. That I shouldn't do marine biology just because my dad is Poseidon. I mean, I shouldn't do it if I'm not really interested in it. And I'm not really interested in it," he added bluntly. "I mean, I love the ocean, obviously, and being in the water and hanging out with the sea creatures. But more as, like, a hobby?" When Annabeth smiled encouragingly, he went on. "My classes have been interesting and stuff, but I'm not excited about them. And I know this might be the shock of the century, but I'm starting to suspect I'm not a scientist."

Annabeth bit her lip. She leaned forward to put her free hand on his knee as she said conspiratorially, "I kind of suspect you're not a scientist either." More seriously, she said, "And that's not a bad thing, Percy. You're good at plenty of other things. People who go into science have to really be passionate about it, especially the research part and the sometimes really slow process. And if that's not what you're into, that's totally okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

He breathed out. "Cool. Well, if you're good with it…I just hope my mom and Paul—"

"Will be proud of you no matter what major you choose. Did you have anything else in mind yet?"

"Not really." Percy trailed his thumb along her index finger. "I figured I'd try to meet with my advisor this week and see what else is out there. And, I don't know, I liked my psychology classes, the ones I took last spring and this past fall. So maybe something in that direction."

"You really enjoyed volunteering at that community center last fall," Annabeth remembered. "Working with the kids there. Maybe something related to that, too?"

"Yeah, maybe." Percy looked thoughtful. "Huh. So, awesome girlfriend who's incredible at research, want to help me look up some different major options?"

"I would love to." She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. But when she turned back to reach for her laptop, Percy stopped her.

"I didn't mean this exact second."

"Why not?"

"Because there's no rush. I probably won't have time to meet with my advisor until at least Thursday. And I can't change my schedule this semester anyway. And I missed you."

Annabeth started to smile as she set her laptop back down.

"And your roommate's gone," Percy added.

She smacked his arm. "I still have an essay to finish."

"Oh yeah. When is it due?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"Huh." Percy brushed her hair back from her shoulder. "How much do you have left?"

"Not much," Annabeth admitted, relenting. "It'll probably only take me an hour, at most. What time is it now?"

"Almost five."

"Hmm. Are there any good shows on tonight?"

"None."

"So I can definitely work on it later."

"Whatever you want to do." Percy raised her hand and kissed her fingers. "Your call, babe."

Annabeth debated. But even if she didn't finish the essay tonight, she'd have plenty of time in the morning. Besides, all she needed was to finish the conclusion and add in a couple quotes. "Have I ever told you you're annoying?"

Percy grinned. "Occasionally."

"Have I ever told you you're also really cute?"

His smile widened. "Occasionally."

"Just checking." And then she kissed him. Because, for once, they had time.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Percy officially changed his major to Psychology. "Not to be some guy sitting in a chair saying 'And how does that make you feel' or something like that," he told her as they walked through New Rome on their way to meet Hazel and Frank for dinner. "But it's a good general degree that opens a lot of doors. My advisor even mentioned maybe social work? To help kids who are struggling and need somebody good on their side."

"I think that sounds like a great idea, Percy." Annabeth leaned into his arm briefly. This was more excitement about school than she'd heard from him in months. The sparkle that was back in his eyes made her really happy. He'd also just gotten a haircut and that looked good on him, too. "You could really help people."

"Yeah, hopefully. I mean, I don't think they make much money, but—"

"Money isn't everything." Annabeth shot him a smile. "Besides, architects do pretty well, so I think we'll be okay."

Percy grinned, then slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss. "Yeah. I think we will."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Thanks for reading! I've read a few other stories that have Percy becoming a social worker or something along those lines and that feels like it makes sense for his character, at least to me. Canonically, he's a pretty good listener and tries to help people (like with Bianca in TC and both Frank and Hazel in SoN), so it seems like this could be a route he would go. Hope you enjoyed the story!
> 
> As a quick note, quarantine has actually been semi-productive for me, so I might have a few more stories ready to go in the next few weeks. You can also visit me on tumblr at justabooknerdposts.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy, physically and mentally! Chapter Two will be up in a couple of days!


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